Meter reading apparatus



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:mn @mi METER RE ADING APPARATUS Filed May l2. 1942 ffl W. mw M md me..v a :l uw

ELEcvmc REGISTER sLLccTLRAwANcmQcAM s RESISTANCE UNIT SELECTOR Y.LEC.READING CAM ATTORNEY v VPatented July 27, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE n 2,325,409 METER READING APPARATUS Ward Leathers and- JerrierHaddad, Brooklyn, N. Y., assignors to International Business MachinesCorporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application May12, 1942, Serial No. 442,634

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to telemetering apparatus and moreparticularly to an apparatus wherein the readings f a multiplicity ofregisters may be obtained by means of resistance modulated electricalcurrents whose values are discriminated one from another and thecorresponding readings recorded in any suitable manner at a centralstation., In copending applications for Letters-.Patent Serial No-s.349,974 and 349,982, both led August 2, 1940, by Ward Leathers, forAutomatic meter reading apparatus, there is disclosed a system oftelemetering wherein the reading of a single register is obtained bymeans of resistance modulated electrical currents. The presentinventiorrrelates generally to apparatus of the type disclosed in theabove mentioned copending applications but is primarily designed for useby public utility companies and makes possible a joint reading of aconsumers electric meter and his gas meter, the readings being relayedto a central station over a single wire and recorded at the centralstation on a single record.

In providing a record of the consumption of gas and electricity under a`single account number, there will arise instances where only oneservice or the other is used by the consumer. Such accounts may have toreckon with a temporary discontinuance of either gas or electricservice, or both. In such instances, where only one record is desired,provision must be made for preventing recording of the reading of themeter which is not in service and, if desired, a special character mayvbe recorded to indicate that that meter is not in service. If bothservices, i. e., electric service and gas service, are discontinued,obviously no recordings whatsoever should be made at the centralstation.

In accordance with the above requirements, it is among the objects ofthe present invention to provide a telemetering apparatus of thecharacter set forth above which will record the rst numeral of a jointmeter account reading as a code, status or monitor symbol, indicatingthat gas service has been discontinued, that electric service has beendiscontinued, or that both services have been discontinued and whichwill thereafter record various numerals which are indicative of theactual consumption of the metered product or products or which,alternatively, will record special characters that are indicative of theconsumption of one or the other metered product.

Another robject of the invention is to provide an apparatus of thischaracter which is entirely automatic in its operation and which once ithas been rendered operative will continue to function indefinitely toselect and record various meter readings until purposely thrown out ofoperation.

Numerous other objects and advantages of the invention will become morereadily apparent as the nature of same is better understood.

In the accompanying single-sheet of drawings forming a part of thisspeciiication, one embodiment of the invention has been shown forillustrative purposes.

The figure is a diagrammatic view of a telemetering system for readingand jointly recording an electric meter and a gas meter under the sameaccount number.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, a cyclometer arrangement,generally characterized by the numeral l0, represents the signaling ortelemetering apparatus of an electric meter l2, and a second cyclometer,generally characterized by the numeral I4, represents a similarsignaling or telemetering apparatus of a gas meter I6. The cyclometerassemblies I0 and i4 may be substantially identical in character andeach includes a plurality of cyclometer wheels I8 carrying on theircircumferential surfaces a plurality of indicia 20 in the form of Arabicnumerals consecutively arranged from 0 to 9. The wheels or cylinders I8are capable of independent movement on a common shaft 2l and are sodesigned that they will cumulatively indicate the measured volumeconsumption of gas or electricity, as the case may be, as expressed incubic feet or Watt hours respectively. The specific mechanism wherebysuch cumulative indication is attained is not disclosed and any one of anumber of well known step-up cumulative mechanisms utilizing a drivingratchet wheel 22 may be employed. Irrespective, however, of the specificmechanism employed for this purpose, the essential features of theinvention are always preserved.

Any suitable number of wheels or cylinders I8 may be employed but in thepresent instance there have been illustrated four such cylinders, thesuccessive cylinders representing in the Arabic system units, tens,hundreds and thousands digits respectively. The units cylinder (in thecase of the electric register l0) is adapted to be stepped in timedrelation to the movement of the armature shaft 24 of the meter l2 andtoward this end a Worm 26 mounted on the armature shaft 24 meshes with agear 28 carried on a shaft 30. A cam member 32 xed to the shaft 30 isadapted upon rotation of the latter to periodically close a pair ofnormally open contacts 34 and thus close a circuit through a relaysolenoid 36 to periodically energize the same. The solenoid 36 uponenergization thereof attracts an armature 38 thereto, which, in turn,operates a pawl 40 which cooperates with the ratchet wheel 22 by meansof which the register wheels I8 of the electric register I0 areadvanced. The units cylinder (in the case of the gas meter I) is adaptedto be stepped in timed relation to the movement of a cam follower 42forming part of the operating mechanism of the gas meter I6. Thisfollower 42 is operatively connected to a ratchet mechanism 44 and uponreciprocation of the follower 42 the register wheels I8 of the gasregister I4 are periodically operated.

A plurality of fixed contactor bars 46 are arranged in spacedrelationship around the peripheries of the various cylinders I8 of thetwo register assemblies I0 and I4 and are of a sufcient length to spanall four of these cylinders. Each cylinder is provided with a metallichub portion 48 to which there is affixed and electrically connected oneend of a spiral contacter or distributor member in the form of a spring50, the outer end of which is adapted to successively engage the variousindicator bars 46. The specic point of attachment of eaolr'fof thesprings 50 tos-its respective hub portion 48 and its length is such thatas each indexing operation is performed, the outer end of the springwill bear against a contactor bar 46 associated with the particularnumeral or indicia indicated by the register. Accordingly, the variouscontactor bars in addition to their designating reference character havefor illustrative purposes been indicated with Arabic numeralscorresponding to those appearing on the face or peripheries of thecylinders IB. Each hub portion 48 in eiect constitutes a slip ring andmakes sliding contact with a brush 49, and these latter brushes areconnected by lead wires to respective contacts J, K, L and M provided ona selector switch 52, the connections being made for a purpose that willappear presently. Eachv of the conductor bars 46 is connected by meansof suitable lead wires to a wirewound resistance unit 54 at varying tappoints thereon designated successively by Arabic numerals correspondingto the various digits of the indicia carried by the cylinders I8.

The selector switch 52, in addition to the con tacts J, K, L and M,includes four additional contacts A, B, C and D, which are adapted tovbe selectively connected by means of lead wires and spring clips 56 toselected tap points on the resistor 54 representing particularidentifying account numbers, as will appear presently. The selectorswitch 52 is adapted to be remotely controlled and in addition to thecontacts A, B, C and D, and J, K, L and M previously mentioned, includesadditional contacts E, F, G and H. The contacts J, K, L and Maccommodate and are connected to the brushes 49 of the electric registerIll while the contacts E, F, G and H accommodate and make contact withthe brushes 49 of the gas meter I4.

The selector switch 52 is adapted to be periodically operated by meansof a ratchet mechanism 60 whose movements are controlled by a relaysolenoid 62 which operates when energized to open a normally closed pairof contacts 64 and to close a normally open pair of contacts 66, theformer contacts 64 controlling the energization of the relay solenoid62.

The arrangement oi parts thus far described is located at or near theconsumers gas and electric meters at an outlying station which, in theaccompanying drawing, is represented by the space existing above thebroken line a. The boxed space contained within the broken line drepresents a conventional secondary ield selector at another outlyingstation which is connected by a plurality of wires, one of which isindicated at 68, to a plurality of gas and electric meter groups.According to the present invention the secondary selector d is adaptedto be electrically connected in this manner to one hundred such metergroups. The boxed space existing within the broken line e represents aprimary eld selector of more or less conventional design, which isconnected by a plurality of main channels or wires, one of which isindicated at 10, to a plurality of the secondary selectors d. It isintended that the primary selector be connected to one hundred of thesecondary selectors.

Each of the secondary selectors includes a stepping switch mechanism I2for establishing continuity over the reading lines 68 and I3 to theprimary selector e. The secondary selector also includes a relaysolenoid i4 for actuating the stepping switch 'I2 and this solenoid isconnected by a wire 76 to one of a pair of stepping switches 'I8 and 80contained in the primary selector e.

'I'he space existing in the drawing below the broken line a represents acentral station which may be located at a point remote from the outlyingmeter locations, the secondary selector location and the primaryselector location. Each primary selector is connected to the centralstation by means of a wire 82 which forms a continuation of the readingline 68, lil. Each primary selector includes a relay solenoid 86 foroperating the stepping switches 'I8 and 88 and the stepping switch 'I8is connected by means of a wire 84 to the central station for a purposepresently to appear. The winding of the solenoid 86 is connected bymeans of a wire 88 to the central station for a purpose that also willpresently appear.

Each of the twelve contacts A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L 'and M ofthe selector switch 66 represents a numeral which, according to thepresent invention, must be read or recorded by a resistance readingmethod at the central station in a denite sequential order. The contactA is intended to represent the rst numeral to be read and this contactis electrically connected to one of the ten tap points 56 on theresistor 54. Arbitrarily, if all service to the consumer using both gasand electricity is discontinued it is intended that the recorded numeralshall be 0 and toward this end the contact A will be connected to a tappoint of minimum or zero resistance on the resistor I5. Arbitrarily, ifthe consumer has discontinued using electric service, as registered bythe cyclometer register I, the contact A will be wired to the resistancetap 56 which represents the numeral 9 on the resistor 54. Finally, ifthe consumer has discontinued using the gas service registered by thecyclometer register I4 the contact A will be arbitrarily connected tothe tap 56 on the resistor 54 which represents the numeral 8. If theconsumer utilizes both electric and gas service the contact A will beconnected to other tapped points on the resistor and in this manner therst reading to be taken arbitrarily becomes a code numeral. For example,if the tap 56, which is connected to the contact A, is attached to theresistor 54 at a point of ground potential nothing will be recorded atthe central station. If this tap is connected to a point on the resistor54 which represents the numeral 9 the reading of the electric registerI0 will not be recorded and in its place will occur a special codecharacter. If the rst numeral to be read represents the digit 8 therecording of the other cyclometer register I4 will not be recorded andin its stead there will be recorded another such character. Theprocesses involved are accomplished automatically at the central readingstation. The code numeral, of course, is set by hand when the service isrst initiated.

As previously stated, the wires 82, 84 and 88 lead from the primaryselector e to the central station which is shown in the space beneaththe broken lines a in the drawing. By means of these --three wires, tenthousand combined gas and electric accounts may be read and recordedsince the selector e may be wired to one hundred secondary selectors dand the secondary selectors each wired to one hundred of the combinedgas and electric meter groups.

Referring now to that portion of the drawing which exists below the linea, and which represents the central reading station, closing of amanually operable switch 90 serves to energize an electric motor 92which upon rotation thereof imparts synchronous movement to a pluralityof rotary cam discs 94, 96, 98, |00, |02 and |04. The various cam discsjust mentioned operate upon rotation thereof to open and close variouscontacts in timed relationship and serve to control the automaticfunctioning of the entire meter reading and recording system. The disc|04 has applied thereto the legend Reading impulse cam and upon rotationof this disc a pair of contacts |06 are periodically opened and closed,thus intermittently connecting the line or channel 82 to a battery |01and energizing the relay solenoid 62 of the selector switch 52 throughthe normally closed contacts 64. The ratchet mechanism 60 is thus causedto operate to advance the selector switch one step and establishcommunication between the line 68 and the contact A through the contacts66 which become closed immediately upon energization of the solenoid 62.At the same time, the contacts 64 become opened but inasmuch as thesolenoid 62 is of the retarded or delayed action type the same willremain energized for a short period of time after each initial impulseapplied thereto.

As the various timer discs continue to rotate and the contacts |06become opened the line 62 becomes connected to a galvanometer |08through a pair of contacts associated with the cam disc I 02. Thegalvanometer |08 constitutes one element of a scanning selectordesignated generally at |I0 and so legended in the drawing. The scanningselector I|0 is fully illustrated and described in a copendingapplication of Ward Leathers, Serial No. 361,798, filed October 18,1940, for an Automatic meter reading apparatus, and reference may be hadto this application for a full disclosure thereof. Briefly, however,this scanning selector includes a row of ten photoelectric devices ||2having associated therewith a series of respective amplifying tubes I4which in turn control the operation of a series of relays I |6. Thegalvanorneter |08 controls the motion of a sensitive pivoted mirrormounted on the axis of its indicating needle. A beam of light issuingfrom a fixed source is directed upon the mirror and the mirror as itrotates throughout various angles which are proportionate to thestrength of the induced magnetic eld reflects the light issuing from thesource to the various photoelectric devices I2. The particularphotoelectric device selected by the scanning mirror in each instancedepends upon the amount of resistance introduced into the reading line68, 10 and 82 by the various portions of the resistor 54 which areselected for reading purposes by the selector switch 52. For example, ifthe contact A of the selector switch 52 is connected to the iifth tap 56on the resistor 54, light issuing from the source at the galvanometerwill be swung in the form of a beam into register with the fifthphotoelectric device in the series ||2 and will cause a correspondingrelay to close, thus energizing the fifth relay of a series containedwithin a coding device generally characterized by the numeral I I8 andso legended in the drawing. Upon operation of the fth relay in thecoding device I I8 a circuit is completed from the relay contacts in thecoding device through a pair of contacts |20 Whose opening and closingmovements are controlled by means of the cam disc 98 and through a relaysolenoid |22 and battery |24. The relay solenoid |22 upon beingenergized closes a pair of contacts |26 and |28. The contacts |26 whenclosed complete a circuit through the battery |24, relay solenoid |22,the contacts |26 themselves, a contact |30 and an armature 432for-ming.part of a relay assembly together with a relay solenoid |34.Thus, as long as the relay solenoid |22 is energized the pairs ofcontacts |26 and |28 remain closed. As long as the pair of contacts |26remain closed the relay solenoid |22 Will remain energized. Unless therelay solenoid |34 is energized to throw its armature |32 away from thecontact |30 the solenoid containing circuit just described will remainenergized and the relays controlled thereby will be locked.

The contacts |28 are in series with a pair of normally closed contacts|40 and |42 and thus, upon closing of the contacts |28, one of the coderrelays (in the present instance the fifth relay of the series) willactuate a recorder or perforator |44 in such a manner as to cause acoded character to be perforated on a tape |46. The coding device ||8and the recorder |44 are substantially the same as the coding device andrecorder illustrated and described in the copending applications abovereferred to and reference may be had to these applications for a fulldisclosure of these instrumentalities. For a disclosure of one arbitraryform of code that may be perforated on the tape |46, reference may behad to a copending application Serial N o. 349,975, filed August 2,1940, by Ward Leathers, for Automatic meter reading apparatus. Uponfurther rotation -of the various legended cam discs, the contacts |20and |50 will become open and the contacts |06 will become closed. Theline 82 will thus again be connected to the battery |01 whereupon thesolenoid 62 is again energized and the resistance selector switch 52 isadvanced from the contact A to the contact B. The reading of thatportion of the resistance unit which is connected to the contact B ismade in exactly the same manner as has been described in connection withthe reading of that portion'of the resistance unit which is connected tothe contact A and this reading is recorded on the tape |46. The numeralswhich are read, however, will have no effect on the solenoids IIS, I2|and |22 inasmuch as the contacts |20 and |50 are in series with thesesolenoids and are closed only during the reading of the first numeral ineach account.

In this manner twelve numerals, one for each of the contacts of theresistance selector 52, are successively read. Arbitrarily, the rstnumeral, i. e. the numeral which is read in connection with the ContactA of the selector switch 52 is the monitor numeral or character. Thischaracter is a status indicating character indicative of the type ofservice rendered by either or both meters. The next three numeralsassociated with the contacts B, C and D serve to identify the account bynumber. The next four numerals which are associated with the contacts E,F, G, and H serve to give a reading of the electric refs*- ister 10. Thelast four numerals which are associated with the contacts J, K, L and Mserve to give a reading of the gas register 14. Upon completion of thetwelve readings just described, the selector advancing cam disc |03advances and closes a pair of contacts, 152 and 154. The former contact,when closed, operates to connect the battery 107 to the line B4 thusenergizing the solenoid 'I4 in the selector d and causing this selectorto advance the apparatus for operative reading of the next succeedingaccount. The contact |58 when closed serves to energize the solenoid 122by means of the battery 124 and break the current supply to the solenoid134 allowing the contacts 138 to return to their ncrmally closedpositionw-The apparatus is then ready for a reading of the next account.After one hundred accounts have been read the primary selector e iscaused to select the next secondary selector d by momentarily closing aswitch |54 to connect the battery |01 to the line 88 and thus energizethe solenoid 86 causing it to advance the primary selector.

In the above description arbitrary selection of the numeral as themonitor or status character has been made for illustrative purposes.Actually this monitor character may be any one of the ten Arabicniunerals. According to the present system if the monitor character isthe numeral 0 the central station apparatus will prevent any recordingof characters whatsoever. This is desirable because the digit 0 whenused as a first or monitor character in an account reading signies thefact that neither gas nor electric service is being used and thereforeno readings are required for billing purposes. If the monitor characteris the numeral 1 according to the present system full readings will bemade of both gas and electric service according to a predeterminedschedule, as, for example, where a special gas rate and a specialelectric rate prevails. I f

the numeral 2 is employed for the monitor character this may indicategas and electric rates of a different special character. The numeral 3when employed as a monitor character may indicate one type of gas rateand a diierent type of electric rate. The numerals 4, 5, 6 and 7 mayalso indicate special types of gas and electric rates. If the numeral 8is employed as a monitor character this may indicate that no gas serviceis -being rendered although electric service prevails. Finally, if thenumeral 9 is employed for a monitor character this may indicate that agas service is being rendered while electric service has beendiscontinued.

Assuming now that the monitor character or first numeral appearing onthe tape U36 is the numeral 0 and that neither gas nor electric serviceis being rendered and no recording of characters is made on the tape146, reading of the numeral 0 by the scanning selector 11D causes thefirst coder relay 116 to become actuated. However, nothing is reflectedto the perforator or recorder 144 because its common wire is broken bythe contact 128 which is controlled by the solenoid 122. This contact|28 is closed only when the solenoid 122 is actuated and this may occuronly When its circuit is completed by closing of the contacts controlledby the monitor reading cam disc 98 and by closing of one of the contactscontrolled by any one of the coder relays other than the relay labeled0. Thus, when the numeral 0 is set up in the resistance unit 54 tobecome a monitor character the solenoid |22 remains deenergized and norecording for the particular account number under consideration is made.The contacts which are controlled by the monitor reading cam disc 9Bbecome opened immediately after reading of the rst monitor numeral, thusmaking it impossible for any character other than the monitor characteritself to close the solenoid 122.

In an instance Where the monitor character is the numeral 9 under thearbitrary set of circumstances set forth above, recording of the readingof the electric register 113 is made impossible. In this instance,although the solenoid 122 will become energized allowing the contacts128 to complete a common line to the recorder or perforator 144 anothersolenoid 118 will also become energized due to the existence of aspecial pair of contacts existing in connection with the relay labeled 9in the coding device |18. As stated previously, the coding device 118 issubstantially identical with the coding device shown in the abovementioned copending applications but differs therefrom solely by thepresence of the pair of contacts 160 which are associated with the relaylabeled 9. Upon energization of the solenoid 119 the pair of contacts142 are open to break the common line to the recorder 144 despite theaction of the contacts 128 controlled by the solenoid 122. A pair ofcontacts 162 controlled by the action of the gas reading cam disc S6 arewired in parallel to the pair of contacts 142. The gas reading cam disc96 thus causes the normally closed contacts 162 to open during the timethat the electric register 10 would ordinarily be read, thus maintainingthe common line to the recording apparatus 144 open so that no readingof the electric register is made.

In order to retain the proper relative spacing of the various perforatedcharacters on the tape 14B, a special spacing character is employed inplace of the blanked reading of the register 1D. Since each blanknumeral requires one special character, three contacts 110, 112 and 114are provided for cooperation with the special character reading cam disc102. The three contacts just mentioned are directly Wired to therecorder 144 and accommodate both the perforating of the tape and theadvance of the same Whenever their common lead line 116 is connected tothe recorder battery |18. A pair of contacts ISO and 182 which arecontrolled by the relays 119 and 121 are interposed in the lead line IE6and are adapted to become closed whenever a numeral representing areading of the electric register 10 is blanked. If such a reading is notblanked but is adapted to be recorded on the tape 146, neither of thecontacts 18D nor 182 is closed and the path through the common lead lineHB is broken, thus making it impossible to perforate a special characteron the tape. Where the reading of the gas cyclometer I4 is blanked andthe solenoid 119 is energized, the lead line 116 will be connectedthrough the contacts 182 and an additional pair of contacts |83 on thegas reading cam. 'I'he contacts |83 are closed during that part of thecycle when the cyclometer I I lis being blanked. The common lead |16will therefore become connected to the recorder battery |18 to perforate5 the special character on the tape |46 each time the special characterreading cam |02 closes the contacts |10, |12 and |14.

In the instance where the monitor character set up in the resistanceunit 54 is the numeral 8, 10 recording of the gas register I4 is madeimpossible. Toward this end the solenoid I2I becomes closed by virtue ofthe presence of an additional pair of contacts I6I, similar to thecontacts |60, associated with the relay labeled 8 in the coder 15 IIS.The various blanking actions that take place in this instance arecontrolled by contacts |84 and |86 associated with the electric readingcam disc 94. The varioussequencaofloperationsm..

which take place to cause blanking of the gas 20 register I4 are similarto those operations which have just been described in connection withthe electric register IU and, similarly, provision is made for recordingthe special blanking character on the tape |46 during such blankingoperations. It will be obvious that the choice of the various relays inthe coding mechanism IIB for blanking either of the two registers I0 orI4, or both of them, or in making provision for special gas and electricrates is purely arbitrary. Whereas the relays labeled 8 and 9 have beenemployed for blanking the gas and electric registers respectively, it isobvious that any other pair of relays might well be selected. Similarly,any of the relays may be selected for blanking both of these registers.Irrespective, however, of these purely arbitrary details in theoperation of the apparatus the essential features inherent in theconstruction of the apparatus remain substantially the same.

The invention is not to be limited to the exact arrangement of partsshown in the accompanying drawing or described in this specification asvarious changes in detail of construction may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit of the invention. Only insofar as theinvention has been particularly pointed out in the claims ls the same tobe limited.

What is claimed is:

1. In a telemetric system for obtaining at a r central stationinformation relating to the reading of a pair of integrated meters eachhaving a plurality of rotating members and located at a point remotefrom the central station comprising "a series of resistances havingvalues which are correlatedvitlihedifferent positions capable of beingassumed by said members, a reading circuit, contact means associatedwith each member for selecting the various correlated resistances assaid member rotates, a resistance selector for successively selectingpredetermined arbitrary resistances and connecting them in said readingcircuit to vary the impedance value thereof and also for successivelyconnecting the selected resistances, rst of one contact means andthereafter of the other contact means, in the reading circuit tolikewise vary the impedance value thereof, discriminating means fordiscriminating between the various impedance values of the readingcircuit, exhibiting means under the control of said discriminating meansfor exhibiting the discriminated values, and means operable when certainpredetermined arbitrary resistances are connected in the reading circuitfor rendering said exhibiting means inoperative.

2. In a telemetric system for obtaining at a central station informationrelating to the reading of a pair of integrated meters each having aplurality of rotating members and located at a point remote from thecentral station comprising a series of resistances having values whichare correlated with the different positions capable of being assumed bysaid members, a reading circuit, contact means associated with eachmember for selecting the various correlated resistances as said memberrotates, a resistance selector for successively selecting predeterminedarbitrary resistances and connecting themA in said reading circuit tovary the impedance value thereof and also for successively connectingthe selected resistances, rst of one contact means and thereafter of theother contact means, in the reading circuit to likewise vary theimpedance value thereof, discriminating means for discriminating betweenthe various impedance Values of the reading circuit, exhibiting meansunder the control of said discriminating means for exhibiting thediscriminated values, means operable when certain predeterminedarbitrary resistances are connected in the reading circuit for renderingsaid exhibiting means inoperative during the successive connecting ofresistances when the resistances selected by one of said contact means'are connected in the readingcircuitr 3. In a telemetric system forobtaining at a central station information relating to the reading of apair of integrated meters each having a plurality of rotating membersand located at a point remote from the central station comprising aseries of resistances having values which are correlated with thedifferent positions capable of being assumed by said members, a readingcircuit, contact means associate with each member for selecting thevarious correlated resistances as said member rotates, a resistanceselector for successively selecting predetermined arbitrary resistancesand connecting them in said reading circuit. to vary the impedance valuethereof and also for successively connecting the selected resistances,first of one contact means and thereafter of the other contact means, inthe reading circuit to likewise vary the impedance value thereof,discriminating means for discriminating between the various impedancevalues of the reading circuit, exhibiting means under the control ofsaid discriminating means for exhibiting the discriminated values, meansoperable when certain predetermined arbitrary resistances are connectedin the reading circuit for rendering said exhibiting means inoperativeduring the successive connecting of resistances when the resistancesselected by both of said Contact means are connected in the readingcircuit.

4. In a telemetric system for obtaining at a central station informationrelating to the reading of a pair of integrated meters each having aplurality of rotating members and located at a point remote from thecentral station comprising a series of resistances having values whichare correlatedwith the different position capable of being assumed bysaid members, a reading circuit, contact means associated with eachmember for selecting the various correlated resistances as said memberrotates, a resistance selector for successively selecting predeterminedarbitrary resistances and connecting them in said reading circuit tovary the impedance value thereof and also for successively connectingthe selected resistances, first of one contact means and thereafter ofthe other contact means, in

the reading circuit to likewise vary the impedance value thereof,discriminating means for discriminating between the various impedancevalues of the reading circuit, exhibiting means under the control ofsaid discriminating means for exhibiting the discriminated values, andelectromagnetic means operable when certain predetermined arbitraryresistances are connected in the reading circuit for rendering saidexhibiting means inoperative.

5. In a telemetric system for obtaining at a central station infomationrelating to the reading of a pair of integrated meters each having aplurality of rotating members and located at a point remote from thecentral station comprising a series of resistances having Values whichare correlated with the different positions capable of being assumed bysaid members, a

reading circuit, contact means associated with each member for selectingthe various correlated resistances as said member rotates, a resistanceselector for successively selecting predetermined arbitrary resistancesand connecting them in said reading circuit to vary the impedance valuethereof and also for successively connecting the selected resistances,rst of one contact means and thereafter of the other contact means, inthe reading circuit to likewise vary the impedance value thereof,discriminating means for discriminating between the various impedancevalues of the reading circuit, exhibiting means under the control ofsaid discriminating means for exhibiting the discriminated values, apair of contacts operable when closed to render said discriminatingmeans operable, an electromagnet operable upon energization thereof toopen said contacts and means operable when certain predeterminedarbitrary resistances are connected in the reading circuit forenergizing said electromagnet.

pable of being assumed by said members, a read-"fi ing circuit, contactmeans associated with each member for selecting the various correlatedresistances as said member rotates, a resistance selector forsuccessively selecting predetermined arbitrary resistances andconnecting them in said reading circuit to vary the impedance valuethereof and also for successively connecting the selected resistances,first of one Contact means and thereafter of the other contact means, inthe reading circuit to likewise vary the impedance value the1.eof,discrirninatingmeanscfondiscrimi-V nating between the various impedancevalues of the reading circuit, exhibiting means under the control ofsaid discriminating means for exhibiting the discriminated values, apair of contacts operable when open to render said discriminating meansinoperative, a second pair of contacts also operable when open to rendersaid discriminating means inoperative, an electromagnet .fiar each ofsaid pairsof contactsgperable upon energization thereof to open itsrespective pair of contacts, means operable when certain predeterminedarbitrary resistances are connected in the reading circuit forenergizing one of said electromagnets and means operable when certainother predetermined arbitrary resistances are connected in the readingcircuit for energizing said other elcctromagnet.

WARD LEATHERS. JERRIER HADDAD.

